The enhanced 911 (e911) service was developed in response to the increasingly mobile nature of modern communications. e911 enables a user to dial 911 and be connected to the appropriate emergency services regardless of their location. Obviously, a cellular caller who hails from Atlanta, Ga., but calls 911 while they are in New York City, N.Y. does not want to be connected to emergency services in Atlanta. To this end, some enhancements were needed to enable callers to be connected to local emergency services based on their location, as opposed to their home location.
Currently, if a user dials 911 from a cellular or internet protocol (IP) based communications device (e.g., a cell phone, smart phone, laptop, tablet, etc.), they are routed to local emergency services using the location provided by the cell tower or wireless router to which they are connected. Due to the somewhat limited range of both of these communications methods, the location provided is generally specific enough for routing purposes. In other words, in most cases, the area covered by a particular cell tower, for example, is also covered by a single, or a small number of, emergency service providers.
When a user dials 911, however, the user is generally unable to receive calls or call-waiting notification all calls are automatically rejected by the user equipment (UE) and/or the network. In addition, no explanation is provided to incoming callers as to why the call was rejected. Generally, the call simply goes immediately to voicemail.